When we learned the ABC song and English alphabet, we pronounced Z as [zed]. But in the practical usage, I never heard people say [zed], but they always say [zi:]
So when shall we say [zed]?
Or such pronunciation is totally archaic and not used in the modern English.
Answer
Very simple.
Br Eng is 'zed'.
Am Eng is 'zee'.
Martha added the very salient point that this is only when spelling words or reciting the alphabet, never in the pronunciation of a word itself….
though there is a hint of it in a word like zebra, where Am E will say zeebra, rather than the Br E zebra.
Ref: OALD
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